Key Takeaways
- Keller ISD remains one of the most stable rental markets in the North Texas area in 2026, supported by strong schools, low turnover, and consistent demand from family renters.
- Rental rates vary significantly within Keller ISD depending on subdivision, home age, and upgrades, meaning even nearby properties can rent for very different prices.
- Accurate pricing is critical in this market, as overpricing can lead to longer vacancy times while competitively priced homes tend to lease quickly to well-qualified tenants.
Real MLS numbers, employer context, and what landlords keep getting wrong in one of North Texas’s strongest suburban lease markets.
I manage rental homes for a living in North Texas. Every month I pull MLS data across the markets where my clients own property — not to confirm what I already think, but to stay honest about what’s actually happening.
The Keller ISD area is one I watch closely. It covers a broad footprint across Tarrant County — Keller, Watauga, a significant portion of north Fort Worth, plus Southlake, Colleyville, and North Richland Hills on the eastern edge. Four high schools. Dozens of established neighborhoods. And a rental market that, when you look at the actual numbers, performs better than most landlords realize.
Here’s what the data showed as of May 15, 2026.
The number that stands out most: 99.9% lease-to-list ratio. Landlords who price these homes correctly are not negotiating rent down. The median home leased in 21 days. Those are not soft market numbers.
It’s Not One Market — It’s Several
One of the mistakes investors make when evaluating this area is treating it as a single uniform market. The Keller ISD footprint is geographically and economically diverse. Here’s what the data shows by city:
Keller is the premium tier. Homes here average approximately $1.48 per square foot — the highest in the dataset. A well-maintained 3-bedroom home typically rents between $1,695 and $3,500 per month. Larger homes go higher: multiple 4- and 5-bedroom properties in recent closings achieved $3,100–$6,500/month. Several Keller homes in this dataset leased at or above asking price. One closed at 106% of list. The market in Keller rewards condition and presentation — it does not reward overpricing.
Fort Worth (Keller ISD portion) is the volume tier. The majority of the district’s rental inventory sits within the Fort Worth city limits but falls under Keller ISD boundaries. These homes average $1.25–$1.30/sqft. Typical 3-bedroom homes rent from $1,700–$2,500/month; 4-bedroom homes from $2,100–$3,200/month. The housing stock is predominantly 1997–2010 construction — solid suburban homes in the 15–25 year range. Well-priced and well-maintained, they lease in under 30 days. The outliers sitting at 90–150+ days are almost always a pricing or condition issue.
Watauga is the value tier. Three-bedroom homes typically rent $1,800–$2,150/month for older stock, with newer 2023–2024 construction hitting $2,650–$2,950/month. Price per square foot averages $1.47–$1.55, which is actually competitive with Fort Worth despite smaller average home sizes. Updated and newer homes here lease quickly. Unimproved older stock does not.
Southlake is the luxury outlier. One recent listing went to pending before accumulating a single day on market. Premium homes with strong finishes are seeing $5,000–$6,000+/month. Inventory is thin, which supports demand when quality homes become available.
North Richland Hills produced one of the more striking data points in this dataset: a 3-bedroom home that leased at 106.8% of asking price in just 4 days. Limited quality inventory creates real competition when the right home shows up.
What’s Actually Driving Demand Here
Strong rent numbers don’t exist in a vacuum. The Keller ISD area has a few structural advantages that sustain rental demand over time.
The employment base is large and diversified. Tarrant County’s major employers include Lockheed Martin (~18,700 employees), DFW International Airport (~14,000), GM Arlington Assembly (~10,500), Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (~10,500), BNSF Railway (~4,900), Alcon (~4,500), and GM Financial (~4,371), among others. No single employer or industry dominates — which means the rental market here isn’t vulnerable to one company relocating or one sector contracting.
Directly adjacent to the northern edge of the district, AllianceTexas reported 602 companies and more than 73,000 direct jobs as of 2026. The Alliance corridor concentrates logistics, distribution, aviation maintenance, manufacturing, and corporate office employment in one dense hub. For landlords, this matters because it creates sustained housing demand from a working population that needs to live nearby.
Add Denton County employers to the north — the University of North Texas (~8,891 employees), Peterbilt Motors (~2,000), Texas Health Presbyterian Denton (~1,100), Texas Woman’s University — and you have a regional employment ecosystem that draws from multiple directions.
The highway framework is strong. I-35W, US-377, SH-170, and SH-114 connect this area to Fort Worth, Denton, DFW Airport, Las Colinas, and the Alliance corridor. TxDOT has an active project to widen a 3.4-mile US-377 corridor segment between Roanoke and FM-1171, which will improve one of the district’s most congested routes. Infrastructure investment is a long-term positive for the surrounding residential market.
Quality of place matters to tenants. Roanoke holds the official designation of “Unique Dining Capital of Texas” — a real differentiator for a suburban rental market. Old Town Keller provides a walkable community district. Major retail, grocery, parks, and trail systems serve the district well. Tenants factor these things in when choosing where to rent and — more importantly — whether to renew.
What Landlords Keep Getting Wrong
I’ve managed homes in this market long enough to see the same mistakes repeat. These are the most common and most expensive mistakes:
Pricing from purchase price, not comparable rents. What you paid for the property is irrelevant to what it will rent for. The market sets rent. Landlords who price above current comps don’t get what they’re asking — they just sit vacant while the market moves on without them.
Underestimating how much condition drives speed. The data is clear on this. The median leased home in this dataset was off the market in 21 days. The homes sitting at 100, 150, or 200+ days aren’t sitting because the market is soft. They’re sitting because of a pricing or condition problem. In a market where the average home rents for $2,350/month, one unnecessary month of vacancy is a real number.
Missing the leasing window. North Texas rental demand has seasonal patterns. The window matters. A home that misses peak season and ends up listed during a slower period faces thinner demand and longer vacancy — often at a lower price.
Deferring maintenance on aging stock. The average year built in this dataset is 2001. The bulk of the rental stock in this district is 15–25 years old — the range where HVAC systems, roofing, water heaters, and plumbing start requiring consistent attention. Deferred maintenance doesn’t disappear. It compounds. And it drives turnover, which is the most expensive thing that can happen to a rental property.
What This Data Is and Isn’t
I want to be clear about the scope here. This is a 30-day MLS snapshot — a directional indicator, not a comprehensive vacancy or absorption study. Zillow, CoStar, and Census data provide additional context at the city level. For city-specific renter share, household income, and population growth data, the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey is the right source, and that data lags by one to two years.
What this MLS data does well: it shows you what homes are actually listing and leasing for right now, how long they’re taking, and how close to asking price they’re closing. For a landlord trying to understand whether a specific property will rent and at what price, that’s the most relevant information available.
A Note on How I Use This Data
I’m Kyle McCaw. I run McCaw Property Management, a North Texas property management company. We manage single-family rental homes across Keller, Watauga, Fort Worth (Keller ISD), Southlake, Colleyville, North Richland Hills, and broader DFW.
I publish market data like this because I think landlords deserve real information. Most of what circulates online about rental markets is either too broad to be useful or too promotional to be trusted. The numbers above came from the same MLS report I use to price my clients’ homes. If it’s useful to you, good. If you want to talk about a specific property, you know where to find me.
I update this data monthly. Follow me here on Medium or connect on LinkedIn if you want the next one when it publishes.
Data source: NTREIS MLS, compiled May 15, 2026. Employer data sourced from Tarrant County Economic Development and AllianceTexas published reports (2024–2026). All leasing figures represent listed and closed residential lease transactions within the Keller ISD school district boundary. Market conditions change; this data represents a point-in-time snapshot.
McCaw Property Management operates in full compliance with the Fair Housing Act and all applicable federal, state, and local fair housing laws.